title: Cholesterol sensitivity of KIR2.1 depends on functional inter-links between the N and C termini.
abstract: In recent years, cholesterol has been emerging as a major regulator of ion channel function. We have previously shown that cholesterol suppresses Kir2 channels, a subfamily of constitutively active strongly rectifying K (+) channels. Furthermore, our earlier studies have shown that cholesterol sensitivity of Kir2 channels depends on a group of residues that form a belt-like structure around the cytosolic pore of the channel in proximity to the transmembrane domain. In this study, we focus on the contributions of different structural domains of Kir2 channels in the regulation of their cholesterol sensitivity. Focusing on the mildest mutation in the sensitivity belt, L222I, we show that the sensitivity of the channel to cholesterol can be restored by crosstalk between three distinct cytosolic regions: the C-terminal CD loop, the EF and GA loops of the C-terminus, and the βA sheet of the N-terminus. Thus, in addition to the importance of residues that affect the cytosolic G-loop gate in the sensitivity of Kir2 channels to cholesterol, our data suggest an important role to the interactions at the interface between the channel's N- and C- termini that couple the intracellular domains of its four subunits during gating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Section, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL USA.
authors.forename: Avia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenhouse-Dantsker
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noskov
authors.forename: Diomedes E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Logothetis
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levitan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009068:Movement; D024661:Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C489461:Kir2.1 channel; D024661:Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying; D021122:Protein Subunits; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: IRK1; Kir2.1; cholesterol; inwardly rectifying potassium channels; lipids